How is the internet important in the novel, Universal Harvester?

In this novel, the internet symbolizes the continued presence of people in our lives whom one has moved away from, lost, or simply lost track of. It is a kind of collective memory, or a repository of passive connections to all those who have touched our lives, an accessibility even in distance. This novel is all about losing and regaining connections between people, and the ways in which the presence of those lost is kept alive.